The Corner Flag: When will council play ball?

It’s a new year and I know most of you are fed up with furious tirades against our municipality’s incompetence.

I’m not and will certainly continue holding the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) to account for its service delivery failures.

Most of our public amenities are an eyesore and vandals destroy facilities that should be protected.

On Saturday, a colleague, Thathe Msimango, reminded me about how we are doing ourselves a disservice by not holding officials accountable for malfeasance and grossly failing to keep their promises.

Msimango exposed the Ethekwini Municipality for failing to organise KZN long-distance runners Banele Mabizela and Bonginkosi Mavuso’s travel documents to participate in the Xiamen Marathon in China on January 5, on time.

The municipality agreed to help Mabizela and Mavuso months ago but only sorted their visas on December 27, while booking their flights on New Year’s Day.

Because of this and other factors, the athletes missed the race. But if they had made it, they would have arrived in China on the eve of the event and then expected at the start a few hours later to complete a 42.2km distance, without enough rest and still jet-lagged.

Msimango was clearly frustrated by this because the runners missed a great opportunity to showcase their talent in a World Athletics Platinum Label road race.

Accountability

There has been no official word from the municipality and no one, besides Msimango, has called out council officials to account.

Also Read: The Corner Flag: Dreams do come true

Why has it become difficult to hold public representatives accountable?

Communities have now resorted to cleaning up their own areas due to total inaction from municipalities, despite paying rates on time.

One of the greatest failures of the CoE in 2024 was the blatant neglect of the Boksburg City Stadium and the grazing veld and dumping site, otherwise known as Sinaba Stadium.

Despite numerous complaints about the condition of the tartan track at Boksburg Stadium, with parts of it said to be peeling off and sporadic water leaks on the field, only minimal action has been taken.

Athletes who aren’t part of clubs that pay seasonal fees were told to pay R160 a day to use the facility. A public facility? Really?

The Sinaba Stadium and many other small facilities in Ekurhuleni, especially in townships, are deteriorating due to shoddy maintenance. Most have become dens for addicts.

All this happens due to the city’s invisibility and officials’ lackadaisical approach to public service because we aren’t holding them accountable.

Accountability is one of the bedrocks of democracy. Its absence may lead to these elected representatives doing as they please. They are accountable to us and must always act in the public interest. It’s our duty to stick it out to them.

Kudos to all community organisations working tirelessly to keep facilities like the Benoni Town Hall, Benoni Central Swimming Pool and tennis courts intact.

But I really hope this is the year where the CoE is held to account for aiding the decay of public sporting facilities.

Also Read: The Corner Flag: It was a year to remember